|
Belmont Shore Residents Association MINUTES EXECUTIVE BOARD MEETING December 11, 2008 The meeting was called to order by President Mike Ruehle at 6:00 pm. The members of the Executive Board present were: Aileen Colon, Vice President Terence Endersen, Charles Folks, John Forstrom, Marvin Jones, Larry Jordan, Jim Lazarus, Secretary Jeff Miller, President Mike Ruehle, and Treasurer Christopher Van Horn. Executive Board member Tim Clark was absent. Fifty-four additional BSRA members and visitors were present. Catrina Hanna, Bay Shore Library staff member, requested donations to the library be made via the "Brodart gift cards" available on their web site, "brodart.com". She also announced the library's veterans oral history project which will be beginning soon, and warned of a number of recent bicycle thefts near the library. Treasurer Christopher Van Horn reported the checking account balance is $4,617.82. LBPD East Division Commander Cynthia Renaud reported on recent events, beginning with the homicide outside Yankee Doodles. She gave statistics about bicycle thefts and auto and residential burglaries, provided details about staffing for Second Street patrols, DUI enforcement, and enforcement of sidewalk restrictions and jaywalking. Nancy Buchanan, BSBA representative, reported on the food bank campaign, a blood drive, and the "shop local" campaign. She also described the recent shoplifting and assault incident at Billings. Jeanette Gavin, the designated residents' representative on the Belmont Shore Parking Commission, announced the recent approval of funds for Second Street median repairs and new plantings and the installation of "quiet zone" signs. Julie Maleki of Councilmember DeLong's office announced the pilot program of free parking in the beach lot at La Verne Ave. Carl Kemp, a public relations consultant to the developers of the Seaport Marina site, introduced Cliff Ratkovitch, who spoke about the development plans for the site and presented a series of slides which showed a concept for the property. He indicated this is not a final plan, however. He described some of the features of the plans, including a 12 story tall hotel which he called a "stellar piece of architecture". Then Sarah Slocum described traffic mitigation measures, which she claimed would improve traffic flow at certain times, but stated that traffic would be worse during the evening commute hours and on Saturdays. There were numerous questions and comments from the audience. An informal poll indicated only ten people support a 12 story building and forty people oppose it. President Ruehle reminded people of the "shop local" campaign during the holidays. The current promotion is a ten percent discount on Fedex shipping at Mailboxes Etc. John Forstrom announced Panama Joe's change of ownership, to the owner of the Sharkeez chain. He is compiling operating conditions to accompany their entertainment permit. These conditions, which have been proposed by nearby residents, will be forwarded to Councilman DeLong for action. President Ruehle reported that Marvin Jones has compiled notes about permit parking, which are available to anyone who wishes to investigate this for their block. Secretary Miller reported on the activities of the BSRA-BSBA Communications Committee. This committee was formed with the purpose of improving communications with the BSBA. The committee members have met three times with representatives of BSBA, hosted by Council Member Gary DeLong and facilitated by Joel Colbert. The minutes of the first two meetings are available and have been distributed to everyone on President Ruehle's email list. Gordana Kajer of Surfrider Foundation announced the "day without a bag" promotion, to encourage shoppers to use reusable shopping bags instead of disposable plastic bags. Marge Campbell complained about the conduct of the Executive Board election in September. The meeting was adjourned at 7:53 pm. Submitted by: Jeff Miller, Recording Secretary
|